END OF A ZEPPELIN.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1628, 24 October 1916, Page 4

END OF A ZEPPELIN.

STRUCK DOWN BY AN AVIATOR

LIEUT. ROBINSON’S FEAT

Londoners, and all those myriads <>t‘ people living in the outskirts of the great city, witnessed a most soul-satisfying spectacle on the morning of Sunday, September 3rd, when one of thirteen raiding Zeppelins fell to earth a mass of roaring llames, writes Lieutenant Guy P. Natusch, formerly of the New Zealand Herald staff. Seven airships which have taken part in raids on England have now been recorded officially as destroyed, but tiiis one is distinct in that it is (he only one that may be claimed fairly as having been brought down on English soil. Then, too, literally hundreds of thousands of people saw it receive its death-blow, and tens of thousands more viewed the wreckage where it fell in an open grass meadow at Cuffley, near Enlield. It is this personal touch about the latest success of our anti-air-craft services that has stirred the people to enthusiasm. It is not every day that a Zeppelin finds its last resting place, so to speak - in

one's backyard. YOUNG ANGLO-INDIAN AVIATOR. Personally. 1 was undoubtedly fortunate on the night of the raid, for not only did 1 have a line view of the falling Zeppelin, but also I heard the story of the light from the lips of the aviator who, after an exciting chase with a depleted petrol supply, brought about the downfall of the raider. This was Lieut. V. L. Robinson, an Anglo-Indian, not long in his twenties, who, by tin' way, ascended from the same aerodrome as thiit from which the New Zealander, Lieut, de Bathe Brandon, (lew on April Ist, the night on which he assisted so materially in the sinking of the 1.15 off the Thames Estuary. For his gallant action, Lieut. Robinson has been awarded the V.C.

We. had no difficulty in finding the aerodrome in question on Ihe night of the raid. An aerodrome at nighl, with its petrol flares marking out the landing area, resembles nothing so much as a large and well-lit eirens ground. That, at least, is the impression one receives from the ground level, hut, from even a comparatively small height, I am told, the (lares arc far from easy to locate. The return to earth at nighl, aviators say, is one of the most uncertain feats they are called upon to perform.

TUB ZEPPELIN SIGHTED. The night of this particular raid was eminently suitable for the Germans’ purposes, for a heavy mist lay on the ground and higher up were clouds affording good cover. About midnight we heard heavy gunfire and the sullen boom of exploding bombs, bur no Zeppelin came in sight. Gunfire broke out again an hour later from a different direction, Imt onee more we failed to catch a glimpse of (he target. A long wail of over another hour followed, when suddenly the guns harked madly, and high np in the clouds could be seen the glittering body of a raider. Shrapnel hurst like fireworks all round the large envelope, which, turn and twist as it might, ,could not for some minutes evade (he bright rays of the pursuing searchlights, Then. when it seemed that the Zeppelin was doomed, the luck of the tight changed, and the German slipped behind a friendly cloudbank. ,MIN PTES OK ANXIETY, Disgust wps writ large on every face, hni, hoping against hope, we watched the heavy VhwK '» which the enemy had sought refuge.. Minute after minute passed; the ggns were silent, and the searchlights tided without avail to pierce the mist, fdn.ddenly a small point of red light tlicUmd ,ih rough the cloud. It seemed to fall slowly.- hut rapidly "Tew larger and more intense, )\ as i( a large parachute tlare from an aeropb/ne. or could it possibly he the Zepp. »Jjt',e.’ The llame grew with remarkable fajmlily, and it soon became too big for a ptrf.a.chute light. LTKf; AN INCANDESCENT MANTLE.

That it was the Zeppeli;; in flames was soon beyond doubt• >1 L** a huge incandesces) mantle at while heat it dropped to earth, J heie was nothing hurried about the initial stages of its fall. Two minutes elapsed before the final crash, and long before then the people were loudly cheering, hooters wildly shrilling, and steamers in the esluarv added to the pandemonium of joy by excited whoops of their syrens.' A gre.a) hurst of flame shot up as the huge framework crumpled a) (lie final impact, and 1 lion, darkness, pierced ugly by the glare of searchlights looking lor another victim.

Above the fallen Zeppelin appeared two pin points of light. Then, as they grew larger and wider upart, (hey were recognised as the sidelights' of an aeroplane, and renewed cheers broke out D'oni the little band of airmen surrounding me.

THU RETURN OF THE PILOT. Followed thy usual Hare signals between the ’plane and fhe aerodrome —the former indicating its desire to land, and the latter signifying that all is clear below—and, swinging gracefully into position beyond the- main guiding light, the machine glided to earth and came to rest. “Good old boy,” yelled a man in the forefront, as the group dashed over to the machine, “did you ‘strafe’ the blighter?” “Yes, 1 ‘strafed’ him all right,” came the cheery and matter-of-fact response. Waiting for no more, the excited

group . ccnrod the pilot and chaired him around (he ground, amidst a babel of cheers and questions. “Had the time of my life,” was the way in which Lieutenant: Robinson described his evening’s work when the noise subsided somewhat. “1 didn't see anything for some time after I went up, but later I sighted a Zepp., and away we went. Quite a good chase, but I missed (he thing in the clouds. Then this other one came along, and I swore 1 wouldn’t miss m'y chance this time.” TANKS NEARLY EMPTY. When the aviator sighted the second Zeppelin he had already had one chase, and had been in the air as long as it is usual for machines to stay up Ujl a stretch. ITe was under no delusions as to his petrol supply, and knew that if the tight were prolonged his tanks would quickly empty and he himself be left with no option but to descend where he was —in all probability in a crowded building area! It was characteristic of the pilot that he did not hesitate, bn I set out mi his relentless pursuit <>f the enemy. That it was a case of touch and go is shown by the fact that bis machine returned to earth with exactly one half-pint of petrol in its tanks!

While manoeuvring for position, Lieut. Robinson was in direct line of fire of the gnus blazing away so merrily from below, and at one lime he was holly peppered by the Zeppelin's gun. Once I lie enemy threw out a dense cloud o( smoke and rose hurriedly in an endeavour to escape its pursuer. It rose a matter of some two thousand I eel, but with it went the aeroplane. But ro continue the pilot's own story; “My first two shots 1 fired along the body of the Zepp. Then 1 dropped about five hundred feet, and, tiring np, scored a hit behind the second gondola. She caught fire immediately, and, canting over, passed close by my 'plane on her dive to the earth. Gad! I was so excited that I nearly hopped out of mv seat after her!"